Semester 2012A

This
page provides instructions for completing Phase II Science Programs for
all Gemini North and Gemini South instruments. It includes submission
details and procedural changes. Please read this page carefully!

Deadlines and Mechanism for Return of Completed Science Programs

The Phase II deadline of January 17, 2012 is a hard deadline for both
queue and classical programs. Note that failure to submit a defined
program by the Phase II deadline will result in the progam being
canceled. Extensions are granted only in exceptional circumstances and
only if requested prior to the deadline.

The mechanism for submitting your completed Phase II Science Program
is by using the Store command in the Observing Tool and is the same for
all instruments. See the Observing Database information for more details.

Dates for submission of completed Phase II information are (all 6pm local time):

Phase II deadlines for all instruments

Deadline

Notes

17 January 2012

Mandatory deadline for all queue and classical programs.

MOS Mask Cut Deadlines

MOS Masks are currently cut at Gemini North for both telescopes. Allow an extra week for delivery to Gemini South. We hope to resume mask cutting at Gemini South in early 2012.

The mask design and corresponding Phase II updates are submitted via
the OT and then checked by the NGO contact before being forwarded to the
observatory for cutting. The time between mask design submission and
when the mask can be available at the telescope is approximately 2 weeks
for Gemini North and 3 weeks for Gemini South (due to mask shipping
time). We strongly encourage all MOS PIs to submit their mask designs
as early as possible (either at the start of the semester if not using
GMOS pre-imaging or immediately after the pre-imaging is taken) in order
to increase the chance that the MOS observations will be completed.
Gemini reserves the right to not cut masks for queue programs submitted
within 6 weeks of the end of the semester if the queue coordinators
determine that the MOS observations cannot be scheduled.

Classical program PIs must submit their mask designs at least two
weeks prior to their arrival at Gemini North and three weeks prior to
their arrival at Gemini South.

Note that all MOS observations must be defined by the phase II
deadline. Observations without masks will be reviewed and set to "On
Hold" until the masks become available, at which time the PI will have a
chance to make modifications if necessary.

January 18, 2012

February 28, 2012
27 March 2012
24 April 2012
22 May 2012

Dates of preparation of Gemini-North LGS targets lists by Gemini staff for approval by Space Command.
Change requests
for target additions and alterations must be made well in advance of
these dates for the target to be included in the next LGS run, and
observations set to "ready" at least two days prior. (These restrictions
do not apply to LGS programs granted ToO status.)

The mandatory deadline applies to all queue and classical programs
including templates for Quick Response / ToO observations. The mask
design deadlines are more flexible but we encourage PIs to submit their
mask designs and final MOS observations as early as possible (see the
table above). The LGS target list preparation dates are subject to
change if LGS runs are rescheduled.

In some cases GMOS PIs may be contacted directly and asked to submit
their Phase II early to provide sufficient observations for pre-imaging
and MOS spectroscopy at the very start of the semester. In all cases it
benefits programs with early targets to get their Phase II ready early,
as some 2012A programs will most likely be observed at the end of 2011B
to help fill the queue.

Distribution of Phase II Skeletons

All observations must be defined using the Observing Tool (OT)
software. Gemini staff have translated approved Phase I proposals into
the Phase II format of the OT. In this process, the observations and
other details entered in Phase I are used to construct a ("skeleton")
framework of your Science Program. NGO staff may have also copied
relevant observation templates from the OT example libraries into selected programs. Please use any templates as the starting point for completing the Phase II observations.

Instructions on skeleton retrieval were sent to PIs on December 19, 2011.
As in previous semesters, the Phase II skeletons are
downloaded/uploaded directly from/to the Gemini telescope databases to
enable more efficient and rapid processing. See more information on using the Observing Database.

A new release of the OT is available to support Semester 2012A Phase
II preparation (as well as on-going 2010A, 2010B, and 2011A programs); do not use the previous "2011B" public release. There are OT installation instructions available. If you are unfamiliar with the OT, there is an OT tutorial
that provides a useful introduction. In addition, each instrument also
has several web pages that provide guidance on observing strategies and
how to describe these in the OT. OT libraries
with example observations and configurations for each instrument must
be fetched and used for your observations, as these contain updated
calibration observations as well as templates.

OT and Other Late-Breaking Changes for 2012A

The principal changes to the OT software are listed on the OT Release Notes
page. There are also several new policy changes. Here we summarize how
they affect Phase II observation definition and point the user to
further details.

OT Libraries

There are many changes to the OT libraries,
especially to include automatic calibrations for GNIRS, GMOS-N/S, NIFS, and NIRI. Fetch the new libraries by selecting "Fetch
Libraries..." from the File menu of the OT Science Program Editor.

NGO staff may have added relevant template observations from the OT
libraries to selected programs in order to improve the Phase II process.
Please use these templates as the starting point for the final Phase II
observation definitions. Contact your NGO contact scientist if you have
any questions.

Many instrument libraries now include "Standardized Notes" which
should be used if possible to efficiently convey important information
to the nighttime observers.

Major new OT capabilities and procedure changes

Automatic GCAL settings for GMOS, GNIRS, NIFS, and NIRI

Automatic read mode settings for GNIRS, NIFS, and NIRI

Revised sequence time line view and improved overhead calculations

Automatic guide star selection for GMOS sidereal targets

GMOS-N CCDs should be E2V

All GMOS-N observations must use the E2V CCDs and 6 amp mode. See the GMOS Status page for news on the GMOS-North detector upgrade.
Characterization of these CCDs is ongoing; only a new 6-amp
mode has been commissioned for science use and there are no
plans to commission the 3-amp mode. Please see the
GMOS data format page for details on the 6 amp format. Releases are planned for handling
data reduction with these new CCDs. Please
download the latest release when it becomes
available.

Relaxation of Observing Condition Constraints and Other Observation Changes

By default observations must use the observing conditions constraints
approved by the ITAC during the Phase I process. Band 3 programs must
use the approved Band 3 conditions. It is always acceptable to relax the
conditions since more relaxed conditions lead to a higher probability
of execution.

To change to better observing conditions than approved by the ITAC,
or to add airmass or hour angle constraints, requires approval via the
change request procedure. Target changes and other significant modifications to the original proposed observations also require approval, see the change request procedure for more information.

We are continuing the "poor weather queue" to fill telescope time under very poor, but usable, conditions. Poor weather proposals can be submitted at any time using the PIT.

User Support

The National Gemini Offices are responsible for Phase II support for
the established facility and visiting instruments. In outline, the Phase
II process is as follows:

PIs develop their Phase II using the OT library examples and interacting with NGO support staff as needed for assistance;

Phase II Science Programs are checked by NGO staff who iterate with
PI if needed, before setting observations to "For Activation";

Once set for activation, the Gemini Contact Scientist will perform a
final check before setting observations "Ready" to observe. If there
is any problem the observation status will be returned to "For Review"
for further iteration between the NGO and the PI.

As observation status changes in the OT, the PI, NGO contact and
Gemini contact receive emails. The PI must always fetch the program to
ensure he/she has the latest version before making changes and storing
again.

Status of Submitted Programs and Observations

The queue summary
and "interactive database snapshot" pages show the current execution
status of all queue programs and indicates when data have been taken.
(For the next level of detail,click on the "execution status" link under
each program to see the status of each observation or on the execution
log links in the contents list to see which observations were executed
each night).